Medical and Social Work

Since the beginning of SIM, there has been a special emphasis on medical ministries. That is how in 1947 and 1954 dispensaries were opened in Piela and Mahadaga, which are today medical centers. They first had to gain people’s trust; for the missionaries were bringing medical techniques that people in the villages did not know. Little by little, they managed to prove trustworthy and today they are centres with maternities, pharmacies, etc. Doctors have joined the teams, and we praise the Lord about it. Most of the patients are able to pay their medical fees, but when they cannot, the medical centre pays for them. Otherwise, these people would not even come to the centre to get the treatment they need.

In addition to the medical centres, two handicapped centres were created. First in Mahadaga in 1987, (the Centre for the Advancement of the Handicaped People, CAH), then in Fada in 2015, (the Centre Espoir, literaly Hope Centre).

The French missionary Françoise Pedeau saw the needs of people living with disabilities, and the centres now go into the villages to seek them, welcome them, and offer their help through physiotherapy. The CAH in Mahadaga also hosts a school for visually impaired and deaf kids, so they can go to school as the other children and be integrated into life in the society at large. Once they have finished school, they can learn a trade, tailor, for instance. You can follow the CAH on Facebook: Centre Handicapés en Avant

These different centres are channels to share the gospel in an efficient way, first by meeting physical needs, and then to be able to talk about their spiritual ones. Many have come to Christ through these centres. You can read the article about Maalo here: Maalo, a young blind woman who sees.

To support this project, give to the closer SIM office and notate:

Project Nr. 93 279 (for the CAH in Mahadaga) or

Project Nr. 93 941 (for the Centre Espoir de Fada) or

Project Nr. 82 375 (for the Medical Centre in Mahadaga) or

Project Nr. 88 100 (for the Medical Centre in Piéla).

Prayers

1

You can pray for the unity of the medical team and their witness towards the people who come to them.

Cera is a small ceramic community in the rural area of Loja Province. Read more about how God brought the Barbee family there to launch a missional business together with a small group of believers who are eager to make an impact in their own community.

Twice Lily* found herself standing on the overpass, wondering what to do with her life and how to make ends meet, as busy city traffic whizzed underneath. But God was about to do something good in Lily's life through CUP (Children's Uplift Program).

I awoke to the sound of the wind howling through camp. The walls of my tent shook violently as I glanced at my watch. It was just after midnight; in about an hour, our team would make the final push for Uhuru Peak, the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania—Africa’s tallest mountain.

Life is tough for families coping with disabilities in Kenya. Working with the local church, Sports Friends Kenya believes it can make a long-term transformation in their lives.

Cera is a small ceramic community in the rural area of Loja Province. Read more about how God brought the Barbee family there to launch a missional business together with a small group of believers who are eager to make an impact in their own community.

Twice Lily* found herself standing on the overpass, wondering what to do with her life and how to make ends meet, as busy city traffic whizzed underneath. But God was about to do something good in Lily's life through CUP (Children's Uplift Program).

I awoke to the sound of the wind howling through camp. The walls of my tent shook violently as I glanced at my watch. It was just after midnight; in about an hour, our team would make the final push for Uhuru Peak, the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania—Africa’s tallest mountain.

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Under the Christian organization AIDIA, Peruvian believers and SIM missionaries seek to see churches planted and believers discipled into mature Christians in the rural villages of Apurímac. In this region only 8 percent of the villages have an evangelical church.

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Our aim is to express Christ’s love to the children and youth of Guinea.

This project will enable the SIM Paraguay camping ministries to expand. It will better train counselors and leaders, to realize more effective camps through use of a property that is designed to house larger numbers of people for family camps or larger summer camps.